Prospect #23: Alex Periard

Published Dec 31 2008, 01:45 AM by Ryan Topp

This year we’ll be releasing our top 25 list in conjunction with the people over at Bernie’s Crew, which means the list is going to posted somewhat out of order to match up with what Jim has for his Top 25. An up-to-date list of the Between the Green Pillars Top 25 can be found at the bottom of the page.

Alex Periard / RHP / 6’1” 205 LBS / Born 6/15/87

The first of several Canadians on the list (he gets extra points for being French Canadian), Periard made strides this year but apparently wasn’t quite ready to swim with the big boys just yet. Pitching within the friendly confines of the Florida State League, he held hitters pretty well in check in his 112 2/3 innings there. He induced nearly twice as many ground balls as fly balls while posting a better than 2:1 K to BB ratio. Then he moved to AA Huntsville and things got ugly. His ground ball rate tumbled, he barely struck out one batter for every one he walked and, correspondingly, his ERA jumped over two full points in his 38 innings of work. Things didn’t get any better in the Arizona Fall League for Periard, where he added the ugly tendency to give up homeruns to his repertoire.

Though things may have gone bad for him late last year, long term things still look fairly promising for Periard. He struggled in his first go around in AA, but he won’t turn 22 until next summer, so he is young enough not to get too concerned about a setback like that. He throws in the low 90’s and induces a lot of ground balls. The Brewers would be well advised to take it slow with Periard, because he is still younger than his competition in most cases and it looks like he has some work to do to master pitching to better competition. Hey, if things don’t work out for him in Milwaukee, he can always go and pitch for Dave Duncan and Tony LaRussa.

Bernie's Crew Take on Periard

There are plenty of reasons to be concerned about Alexandre Periard after his struggles in Huntsville and in the Arizona Fall League.  Still, I have to rate him higher than #23 because of his past success and potential.

As written above, the soon-to-be 22-year old has a pretty good fastball in the low-90s.  He also features a solid change-up and curveball.  Both project to be league average pitches at worst.  Alex throws strikes, gets ground balls, and is still young enough for the struggles in Double-A to be written off by scouts.

Periard simply was not ready for Double-A ball.  His walk rate jumped from 2.40 BB/9 to 3.79, while the strikeout rate dropped by over a strikeout per nine innings.  The decrease in strikeouts concerned me until he fanned almost a batter per inning in the Arizona Fall League -- which had better talent than the Class AA Southern League.  The right-hander started inducing more grounders than he did in Huntsville.  Also a good sign that the stuff is still there.

Alexandre Periard simply lost his control.  Why?  I am not sure, but the problem got worse in the AFL.  He most likely has lost confidence in his fastball and is now aiming instead of throwing.  

Overall, I am not overly concerned about the right-hander's struggles over the second half of the season.  His innings pitched increased by over 40 innings, so some of his control problems could be caused by fatigue.  The fact that his strikeout rate and groundball rates both bounced back in the AFL is also encouraging.  I fully expect Alexandre Periard to enjoy much more success in Huntsville than he experienced in 2008.

Between the Green Pillars Top 25 Prospects:

# 25: Evan Frederickson

# 24: Cody Adam

#23 Alex Periard

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Comments

 

Jim Breen said:

There are plenty of reasons to be concerned about Alexandre Periard after his struggles in Huntsville and in the Arizona Fall League.  Still, I have to rate him higher than #23 because of his past success and potential.

As written above, the soon-to-be 22-year old has a pretty good fastball in the low-90s.  He also features a solid change-up and curveball.  Both project to be league average pitches at worst.  Alex throws strikes, gets ground balls, and is still young enough for the struggles in Double-A to be written off by scouts.

Periard simply was not ready for Double-A ball.  His walk rate jumped from 2.40 BB/9 to 3.79, while the strikeout rate dropped by over a strikeout per nine innings.  The decrease in strikeouts concerned me until he fanned almost a batter per inning in the Arizona Fall League -- which had better talent than the Class AA Southern League.  The right-hander started inducing more grounders than he did in Huntsville.  Also a good sign that the stuff is still there.

Alexandre Periard simply lost his control.  Why?  I am not sure, but the problem got worse in the AFL.  He most likely has lost confidence in his fastball and is now aiming instead of throwing.  

Overall, I am not overly concerned about the right-hander's struggles over the second half of the season.  His innings pitched increased by over 40 innings, so some of his control problems could be caused by fatigue.  The fact that his strikeout rate and groundball rates both bounced back in the AFL is also encouraging.  I fully expect Alexandre Periard to enjoy much more success in Huntsville than he experienced in 2008.

December 31, 2008 3:52 PM

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